This procedure is provided pursuant to CWUP 2-70-070 Computer Equipment Replacement, Purchasing and Disposal Policy.

(1) Standards - The IS department will publish recommended standard configurations annually. The standard configuration options will be determined each year based on available funds, price-performance analysis, and market conditions, and in collaboration with the EISC Computing Standards advisory group. This baseline cost will be used to establish the available funding for the custom configuration option. The manufacturer’s warranty of at least three years must be included in the purchase of the computing equipment for all options.

(2) Computing Equipment Provisioning and Retrieval – When a new employee joins the university, they will be issued computing equipment by the IS department. When an employee leaves CWU, the IS department will retrieve the computing equipment, which will be re-imaged and deployed to another employee as needed until the end of its lifecycle.

(3) End of Lifecycle Use - Computing equipment purchased or replaced by the computing equipment fund shall be identifiable by individual user.  All replaced computing equipment must be returned to IS. Departments may not repurpose end-of-lifecycle computing equipment within the department. Standard and custom configuration equipment will be redeployed to a secondary location beyond the lifecycle period. The additional use beyond the end of the lifecycle period provides students, faculty, and staff with additional computing resources and as a result extends funding available for the standard configuration options. End of life-cycle equipment will be made available to departments by written request through the Service Desk ticketing system. End of life-cycle equipment is not subject to a four-year replacement cycle.   

(4) Loss and Damage - Any computing equipment stolen or lost will be replaced by departmental funds. If the computing equipment has accidental damage and handling warranty coverage, the warranty will be used in case of damage. If outside of the warranty period, damage will be covered by department funds. 

(5) Replacement Options - When the standard four-year lifecycle on primary computing equipment ends, the options for replacement are as follows: 

(A) Pick from one of the published standard configurations. At the end of the four-year cycle, the equipment will be replaced per this policy and the recycled equipment re-deployed or disposed of in accordance with university policies. 

(B) Request a custom configuration. IS will provide up to the amount for a standard configuration toward a single system. Department budgets are responsible for covering additional costs for custom configurations. Custom configurations require consultation with IS staff to ensure that the purchase is compliant with all purchasing policies. Custom configured computing equipment, including upgraded components, will be returned to IS to be deployed to a secondary location at the end of the lifecycle period.

(C) An employee may choose to defer replacement for one additional year, if the computing equipment is able to run a current OS, the hardware is fully supported by the manufacturer, and there is no known security risk in leaving the equipment in use.

(6) Purchasing – All computing equipment procured using institutional funds, other than grants, will be purchased by the IS department in accordance with the established standards and this procedure document.

(7) Disposal –End of lifecycle computing equipment that is no longer serviceable will be sent to the Surplus and Asset Management Department for disposal in accordance with institutional policy.

(8) Additional Information

For further information on this policy, please contact the Information Services and Security department.

[Responsibility: Operations Division Authority: Cabinet/UPAC; Reviewed/Endorsed by: Cabinet/UPAC; Review/Effective Date: 04/14/2021; Approved by: James L. Gaudino, President]